For most of human history, shipworms, aka Teredo worms, have been a bane to mariners.
For most of human history, shipworms, aka Teredo worms, have been a bane to mariners. Technically a clam rather than a worm, shipworms, which burrow into and destroy wood in seawater, have been known and feared from the time humans began traveling on the seas. Ancient Egyptian and Phoenician seafarers are known to have coated the hulls of their vessels with wax in an attempt to mitigate shipworm damage. In the Classical Period, Greek and Roman sailors used pitch, tar, and lead sheathing to deter the shipworms. Warships, for which those methods were unsuitable, were beached and dragged ashore when not in use. Shipworms continued to plague sailors in the Age of Exploration. Most famously, on Columbus’s return from his fourth voyage to America two of his ships were destroyed by shipworm damage and the other two had to limp into Jamaica where they were stranded for months. Captain Cook lost a ship to shipworm damage and many historians believe shipworm damage was a contributing ...